Buy this old Mercedes G-Wagen immediately

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Nowadays the Mercedes G-Wagen is a shiny, chintzy thing driven by the sort of people who wear watches the size of medium-sized dinner plates. This is a shame, because it’s still a massively capable, likeable thing that doesn’t entirely deserve the hate and vitriol often aimed at it. If only more of them looked like this one.

In a previous life it was a military vehicle owned by the Bundeswhar – the German armed forces. When it was retired from service it was refurbished and shipped to the US, where it was bought by a bloke in Texas. At some point said bloke had it resprayed in yellow, fitted some serious tyres on authentic 15in Mercedes steel wheels and gave it a 2in suspension lift. The G also gained a heavy-duty clutch, Brembo brakes and a fancy stereo, among other things. The result was what you see before you – a tastefully modified, rather cool G-Wagen you can actually go buy.

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Since being acquired by the seller, it’s covered less than 1,000kms, its five-speed manual transmission has been overhauled and its (admittedly non-original) five-cylinder diesel engine serviced. At the time of writing, the bid is $36,500, which isn’t half bad given a) what you’d pay for a new G-Wagen and b) what you’d pay for a similarly outfitted Defender.

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